Racial terminology
Racial Terms This is a page for racial terms in Warcraft Lore. These are technical terms. Aberration An aberration has a bizarre anatomy, strange abilities, an alien mindset, or any combination of the three. Half-ogre It is unknown who first came up with the term "Half-ogre" but it is used by all races of the world. Even by the esteemed anthropologist Brann Bronzebeard in his scientific reports. Half-ogres do not appear to be insulted by it, and they also refer to themselves by the term. It is not a "racial slur" but a technical term, and a term of self-identity. Half-human half-ogre A rumored race created from the union of humans and ogres. *See Half-human half-ogre Half-ogre magi Half-ogre magi is the term for the theoretical offspring between ogre magi and orcs. Ogre Magi were creations of Gul'dan during the Second War, but they refused to mate with orcs for purpose creating mok'nathal. So their existence is rare if unlikely Half-orc It is unknown who first came up with the term "Half-orc" but it is used by all races of the world. Even by the esteemed anthropologist, Brann Bronzebeard in his scientific reports. Half-orcs do not appear to be insulted by the term, and they also refer to themselves as Half-orcs. It is not a "racial slur" but a technical term, and a term of self-identity. Half-draenei A half-draenei is the offspring between an orc and a draenei. They show a blending of orc and draenei features. *See Half-draenei Half-elf Half-elf is the term used by all races on Azeroth to describe the group of half human and half high elves, and its even used by the esteemed anthropologist Brann Bronzebeard. In fact Half-elves use it to define themselves, and while humble hold some pride in the term. It is a technical term and term of self-identity rather than a "racial slur". Half-night elf Half-night elf is the term used to describe the offspring of humans and night elves. *See Half-night elf Half-blood elf Half-blood elf is the term used to describe the offspring of humans and blood elves. Since blood elves came into existence only about half-decade ago, they certainly have not had time to mingle with humans and produce adult offspring. This does not mean that it cannot happen, however; it is possible it might happen 20 years in the future. Half-Kaldorei Half-kaldorei is an apparent technical term for someone who is part night elf and an unknown race. *See Half-kaldorei Mongrelman Mongrelmen is a term used for a race of miscellaneous hybrid individuals from various races. Mongrelmen on Kalimdor hide from the other sapient species for fear that they will be mistaken for members of the Burning Legion, or worse. They also tend to be fairly weak. There are mongrelmen which share heritage from dwarves, high elves, night elves, trolls, goblins, orcs, tauren, crabmen, and grippli. Those races genes are dominant and determine the mongrelman's appearance. Some mongrelmen are born with missing body parts due to genetic mutation from incompatibilities in the parent races. Human Human is modern name for prolific race of humanoids on Azeroth formally known as the Azotha. Near-human Medivh used this term as one other possible explanation for Garona's parentage if not human. Traditionally in fantasy/sci-fi, near human means something that shares a common ancestor with humans or evolved from humans. That is humans and near-humans are related by ancestral roots. Demi-human A term used for races that are human-like, such as elves, gnomes and dwarves. See The Alliance of Lordaeron. Half-breed Half-breed is a term used by biologists to categorize any species made up of two separate species. It can also be used as an insult, the term "half-breed" was used by orcs and ogres to refer to Rexxar in the Third War. It was used to negate Rexxar's mixed orc and ogre ancestry, excluding him from either society. Goblinoid Goblinoid is a sub-category of the term Humanoid describing races with similar characteristics to goblins. Orcs and goblins are not the only goblinoids on Azeroth. Some of the previously unknown species are crossbreeds, while others seem to be races unto themselves. It is unknown who came up with the term "Goblinoid". It is used very few times in an apparently "scientific" and unbiased technical bestiary manual by an unknown author. It is a technical term rather than a "racial slur". Note: While Goblinoid is used to describe only a few specific races that share similar characteristics, it does not mean that they are all related to "goblins". Humanoid Humanoid is the technical term used to describe roughly human like species. That is "having human form or characteristics". A humanoid usually has two arms, two legs, and one head, or a human-like torso, arms, and a head. Humanoids have few or no supernatural or extraordinary abilities, but most can speak and usually have well-developed societies. Humanoid can refer to any race (not neccesarily sapient) that share at least some similarities to basic human build, at least from the torso up. Dryads for example are considered fey "humanoids" even though they have bestial lower bodies. Not all humanoid-like creatures are considered humanoids however, and many are classified as Giants, or Undead. In some cases these are smaller sub-categories within term humanoid, for example, Goblinoid, Giant or some Fey. It is a technical term, rather than a "racial slur". Note: While humanoid is used to describe races with similar characteristics, it does not mean they are all related to "humans". Giant Giants is a humanoid-creature of great strength. They are a very large size (above 3 meters/yards or so) and larger than most Ogres (though ogres are considered as one of the races of giants of Draenor). This includes most semi-intelligent large humanoids and some intelligent. Most giants are the creations of the Titans, birthed when the world was young. Note: While giant is described races with similar characteristics, it does not mean that all are related to giants. Fey A fey is a creature with supernatural abilities and connections to nature or to some other force or place. Fey are usually human-shaped or have human-shaped portions (such as a humanoid torso and the body of a stag or other wild creature). Note: While Fey is used to describe a few specific races with similar characteristics, it does not mean that all are related. Dwarf The term dwarf was the term humans gave to the race of short, stocky, and bearded smiths once known as the Earthen. At the time the Dwarves did not know that the word literally meant "diminutive". They are glad they weren't called worse by the humans, for example "beard-men" or "rockheads" or something like that. The name stuck, and now all races around the world use it to describe dwarves, even the Dwarves themselves. While it might have originated out of an apparent racial slur, today dwarves are proud of the term, and do not see it as being a negative terminology, and in fact gladly call themselves dwarves. Mountain Dwarves A term used to describe various clans of dwarves that live primarily in the mountains. The primary clan of mountain dwarves is the Bronzebeard Clan. Hill Dwarves A term used for clans of dwarves that live primarily in the hills. They construct their buildings above ground, with roofs opened to the sky (rarely digging very deep into the hills). *See Hill dwarves. Wild Dwarves Wild dwarves is a term for the dwarves of the Wildhammer Clan. Perhaps "wild dwarves" are a sub-type of hill dwarves, or it is a term derived from Wildhammer. In Day of the Dragon, the Khaz Modan hill dwarves and Aerie wild dwarves are shown to have racial enmnity among each other. Outsider An outsider is at least partially composed of the essence (but not necessarily the material) of some plane other than Azeroth. Some creatures start out as some other type and become outsiders when they attain a higher (or lower) state of spiritual existence. Note: While outsider is used to describe a few specific races with similar characteristics, it does not mean that all are related. Magical Beasts Magical beasts are similar to animals but can have higher intelligences. Magical beasts often have supernatural or extraordinary abilities, but sometimes are merely bizarre in appearance or habits. Note: While magical beast is used to describe a few specific races with similar characteristics, it does not mean that all are related.